Did you know this was possible? A lot of people didn’t and this is important!
Did you know that you just might occasionally take an over-the-counter medication that could actually increase your blood pressure without you knowing it that’s right this is a very popular class of medications that millions of americans take all the time but this class of medications can also increase the blood pressure and interfere with blood pressure medications
I’m talking about this today because honestly as a family doc guys a lot of my patients never knew this i’m going to reveal this in just a moment but first about high blood pressure guys high blood pressure affects one in two americans it is very common and we call it the silent killer because a lot of times people won’t even feel that they have high blood pressure
A lot of times my patients are looking for signs and symptoms but you may not have any but it’s so important to treat your blood pressure and to take your doctor’s advice why it can increase your risk of heart attacks strokes heart failure kidney disease vision loss um sexual dysfunction and so much more so what’s this class of medications that could increase
Your blood pressure it’s over-the-counter pain medications that’s right otc pain medications but not just any over-the-counter pain medications i’m talking about the nsaids nsaids the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications if you’re wondering what that means and what that is i can break it down for you that’s simply medications like ibuprofen which is
Known by the brand name of advil or motrin or naproxen which is often known as a leave or naproxen there are many others as well and guys i’m not picking on these particular brands we’re talking about nsaids in general over the counter okay so this is not brand specific this is important for you to know it’s not that these medications are necessarily dangerous
Yes these are right for some people not right for other people for various reasons but one thing a lot of people don’t know is that these very medications ibuprofen naproxen can actually raise the blood pressure and can also interfere with your blood pressure medications now some people and you might be asking well how is it going to raise my blood pressure well
Um non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications um can actually increase sodium and water retention which can then cause an increase in your blood pressure they also do a lot of other techie things in the body such as inhibiting vasodilating prostaglandins and uh the production of vasoconstricting factors namely endothelin one um so i know that’s a whole lot of
W goo the bottom line is that these medications affect your body in such a way that they can increase your blood pressure so does this mean that you should never take ibuprofen or naproxen um no that’s not what i’m saying what i’m saying is you need to think about how often you take these medications and you need to talk with your doctor if your doctor does not
Know that you take ibuprofen or naproxen occasionally or frequently for whether it’s back pain or menstrual cramps or headaches or arthritis or whatever if your doctor doesn’t know that they really should and understand that you may need to make adjustments in how often you’re taking these medications your doctor needs to discuss this with you so this is a heads
Up guys don’t just go over the counter and take all the ibuprofen that you can find for an issue you think you’re fixing because you might actually be doing harm in other ways one of the ways can be potentially with your blood pressure guys i hope this is helpful talk to your doctor find out what’s right for you in particular it’s going to be different for every
Single person guys i hope this is helpful i’m dr jen cottle i’m a practicing family physician and honor health expert and a video creator um please like and follow my page if you have not already for those of you who send stars i so appreciate you please share this video i want everyone to know guys i will be back soon with more videos
Transcribed from video
How Medications Like Ibuprofen Can Affect Your Blood Pressure By Dr. Jen Caudle
